Apparently if you delete something in your entry on MT and then hit Control-Z it will remove the rest of it instead of undoing it...
Anyway, my brother arrived Friday night, without my mom's knowledge, and I picked him up at the airport and then drove him home... we got in the house and then Glenn called for my mom to come downstairs because he had something to show her. She was SO surprised to see my brother, it was a great moment which I cannot capture with any eloquence.
The next day we went to the State Fair. It is not nearly as awesome as the State Fair in Minnesota, no cheese curds for one thing. But we did managed to eat Elephant Ears, Funnel Cakes, burgers, hot dogs, Italian sandwiches, ice cream, fudge, and the new 'limited edition' Mountain Dew. There was a marble place which claimed to have every name around printed on a marble. They had my name, but I didn't check for yours. :-) They even had my mom's name. It was fun... perhaps my mom and I will enter the sewing contest next year because it isn't as hard as other fairs we have seen.
About the Mountain Dew: Pitch Black... it has the flavor of black grape in it. First I would like to say that I LOVE Code Red, probably even more than (gasp-blasphemy) original Mt Dew. I don't enjoy Livewire, probably because I like orange soda so much in general and it tastes like wierd orange sode. I also love grape and cherry soda, so that gives Pitch Black a fair shot. However, it's horrible... well, unless you like gummy worms so much that you'd like to drink them... then it is probably awesome. I would advise people to avoid Pitch Black like the plague, I am not sure if Washington is a test market or not... but hopefully they don't expand this horrible taste nationwide.
Wait!!! This might be Al-Quaida's plan to break our spirit - that makes sense!! Course I have only taken about three sips, and I think it would have to have crack cocaine in it for me to drink the rest and only then would it succeed in breaking my spirit. So Al-Quaida has failed in their quest to break our spirit... it might've been a nice try, but they have to make it something we will actually finish drinking! So rejoice all my friends, that I have thwarted this evil plan...
If you like it, I'm sorry... really, I am.
I now am the proud owner of burgandy mascara. It is quite exciting. I don't know if it will look good on me, but it's worth a shot. At least it's not red eyeshadow, that stuff creeps me out.
Nothing much has been happening here. I am still trying to decide what to do about graduate school, though I am signing up for a language class. The language of the week is Italian, which I am going to stick with because I can decently fake the accent. Plus it will be good practice for Latin, which I may have to learn someday. I already 'know' French, at least I took 4 years, so I will probably start with a second semester class next term. I still have to find out if I can take classes as a Washington resident. I think all I have to prove is that my main purpose for moving here was not to take a class... yeah because anybody would move 2500 miles so they could go to a community college... not usually.
I watched the move In America last night and it was quite good. I would recommend it to everybody. It wasn't great, but it was good... and tense at all the right times for a drama.
I hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
Today I was bored, and missing Bethel. I miss all the students and the school year starting. It's the first year (EVER, ok... since I was 4) that I've been away from the hussle and bussle of the start of school. I miss it. All the incoming students are so nervous about what they are going to find at college. You get to meet all kinds of new people, and being 'in charge' the last few years I've known that my impression is sometimes one of the first that these new students have at college. I've cherished that ability to try and get them comfortable, at ease, with moving away from home.
So I decided to look up the jobs available at Seattle Pacific University... they don't have any I'd be currently interested in. So I looked up all the college in the area and at all their openings - no go. Most schools focus their hiring in the early summer, unfortunately. So I starting thinking about how it'd be fun to take a class in preparation of getting a Master's. I went to the University of Washington (Seattle) website to see what they were offering. There was one class, but I finally figured out it would cost me $1,200+ to take it. Being a barista currently there isn't any way I can afford that. And I don't think you can get financial aid unless you are actually ENROLLED as a student.
But what to do instead with all my spare time? Perhaps I could take the GREs so I could start my Master's Program next year? And perhaps I could take some language classes? I am still thinking about all of this, but pretty much everybody has told me that I SHOULD get a Master's, and what better way to be involved in a college than to be a teacher? I could make students do all the projects I hated! Plus I am in a position where I make NO money, maybe they'd have pity on me and give me more financial aid then. Probably not, but I can always dream.
So please drop a line and tell me what I should do, because if you all think I am dumb it wouldn't pay for me to go to college to become a teacher.
Alas and alack, of propriety that is, the New Jersey Governor (McGreevy) has resigned. Though breaking your marriage vows, albeit with another man, is not enough reason to cause any public official to resign. (I only have two words: Bill Clinton.) The reason is more likely because he has held the highest rank in an incredibly corrupt state government. I mean what do you expect from the homeland of John Gotti, and the Sopranos? Okay, so the Sopranos is fake and Zack Braff, Bruce Willis, and Anne Hathaway are all from there too, but so is Danny Devito... and he scares me, though not as much as that short guy from the Lethal Weapon series. I think those two just fell short of the height requirement to become a mobster...
Anyway, the reason he resigned is likely due to the fact that the 'object of his affection', (Cipel: who is now claiming he was harassed and not in an affair with the Governor) was installed as the Advisor on Homeland Security. A $90,000 per year job, and was given a raise of $20,000 after three months in that position. Because Cipel is not a US National, instead he is a Israeli national, he could not be given the clearance needed to hold the position. (It can take 3-6 months to run a thorough background check, in case you were wondering about the time discrepancy, and McGreevy likely tried to pull strings after Cipel was denied the clearance.)
Now I understand giving people you know jobs: I had given plenty of jobs at ITS due to nepotism. But have I given out manager positions? Have I given out jobs that have to do with HOMELAND SECURITY IN NEW JERSEY? Seriously, I can't believe McGreevy gave that job away; it's an incredibly important position which has to do with protecting people's lives. Whatever his reasons for wanting to give his boy-toy a good job, please give him one that has less responsibility than that...
McGreevy is stepping down, and not because he had a gay affair, but because he gave away an important job. He is also stepping down in such a way that it blocks the New Jersey citizenry from electing their own official; providing Richard Codey (Senator, D, New Jersey) the governorship. Let me just say this doesn't reflect well on the Democratic Party, especially since they probably wouldn't have any problems holding onto the state. The Republican Party doesn't have a strong hold over the populace and is fractured in said state. What it could cause is a spillage into the Presidential election; the populace, since it couldn't vote for its own choice of a new governor, would vote for the opposing party in the Presidential election thereby driving the electoral votes to GW instead of Kerry. Granted: this is only one possibility and not at all guaranteed. But I hope the Democratic Party carefully considers this decision before they go forward, especially since there is enough time to organize a gubernatorial election. By the way, why is it gubernatorial instead of governitorial? Seriously.
I hope you all learned something, even if it is just that it’s called a gubernatorial election… here, here, here, and here are links.
So I have been chatting with some guys online and one of them wants to meet me. His name is Cary, for lack of a better fake name, and I am actually considering meeting him... the first time I have ever done this. (Please don't tell me horror stories of meeting people online - not what I need to hear now.) Anyway as I am considering it I thought one of the funniest things I could do would be to laugh, for the first time, like Janice, from Friends, I hope all of you are familiar. But then I was thinking, I don't know if any man would find me attractive after I've laughed like Janice in front of them; in fact I think I would become instantly unnactractive. I don't think I'll risk it, maybe because I just don't want to be with a man that would find that attractive... though the look on his face might be priceless...
Some days you feel like an idiot, this was one of those days for me at work. I just can't seem to get everything down. Hopefully I will soon, otherwise I'm going to get seriously injured... probably by kicking something in anger at my own stupidity.
Have a great weekend!!
Seriously, I was considering how much time I have spent watching (and re-watching) movies and TV. That, my friends, is time wasted. I mean during that time I could be learning kung-fu, another language, or perhaps how to do better at my slightly meaningless job. I could expand my mind by reading books more intelligent than masquerading romances... though I probably won't change that habit anytime soon.
When I win the powerball I will do something important with my time... haha, who wants to bet that won't happen.... really either one won't happen because I can't win the powerball since I don't live in MN anymore. Though I could send money to a friend to buy the tickets. Maybe I should just spend my nights in the bingo hall instead.
In case you can't tell, I am bored today and don't have anything witty to say. I hope that you are all safe in your parts of the world. I am going to go make coffee... or learn kung-fu, that's always seemed like fun...
Work has been going, going, going. I think I've been doing a lot better job on being a shift supervisor. It was difficult to jump right into being 'in charge' and I've been getting some negative comments. I realize that I am better than some people at work and worse than others. Hopefully I will be able to pick up the slack relatively quickly.
My boss, Ed, told me that the District Manager wanted to promote me right away to Retail Management Trainee. But he didn't think it was a good idea because another shift supervisor has been working their longer than me and wants to be promoted first. Actually it turns out that he told her that she would be promoted in 6 months and she told him it was 'unacceptable'... she thinks she should be promoted now. So they are working on that. I was okay with it when he told me, but now I think I will go back and talk with him again, because I would like to be promoted as soon as possible... mainly because I can't even pay all my monthly loan bills now. Perhaps I will just end up working at corporate, that'd be fun and plus now I have a little bit more of an 'in'.
Whatever happens I'm sure I'll still have a job, or at least I hope I'll still have a job.... :-)
So the election is heating up and there is only around 90 days left until we, the people, decide. Or at least until the electorate college decides. (insert Bush joke here) Most people have an idea by now of who they are voting for, perhaps. Those that hate Bush are voting for Kerry, and those that love Bush are voting for Bush, and those of us who don't care haven't decided. I think we are 11% of the population.
Right now I haven't seen much from Kerry to pursuade me to vote for him, mainly because I am not one of the group that hates Bush. If anybody has an articles that show who Kerry actually is and what he actually stands for could you please email them to me, or provide a comment. I did find one good article about what Kerry stands for in Iraq; though if he does want to open up contracts to countries who did not participate in the war then those countries should have to send troops now. This would help ease the strain on our own troops. I don't think we should let people who didn't help (cough*France*cough) into the country without shelling out something now.
Also, I am seriously tierd of hearing about Kerry's war record. So he won three purple hearts, my father one a whole crap-load of medals and ribbons which doesn't make him qualified to run the country. Kerry should be stressing what he's done to serve this country here at home, in his home state, in the senate, and what he plans to do in the White House. I don't care what he did in Vietnam, though I am sick of him saying he committed atrocities and so did everybody else there. He's slandering everybody else who served in Vietnam, which would probably be the reason that the Swiftboat Vets are striking back with their ad.
I think this article addresses it better than I can.
Though this popped up in the news today. Apparently vCJD, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease or Bovine Spongiform Encephalopathy (mad cow) in humans, has been transmitted through blood transfusions. And since there is no way to test for the prion in the blood yet it could continue to be transmitted. (Hence the reason I am not allowed to give blood or donate tissue.) Most people don't appear to be dying from the disease itself, but from other unrelated diseases, which is a least a little bit of good news. Notice one thing from the article that should scare you all crapless: you might be able to get through life without having to have a blood transfusion, but you probably won't be able to get through life without having one minor surgery. There are so many that almost everybody has, even the dentist is in danger.
Notice the small line what says 'In the meantime they [people with mad cow] represent a risk to others of transmitting the disease through blood transfusion ... or perhaps through contamination of surgical instruments'. That's right, once a prion (since BSE is neither bacteria or virus) is on something it doesn't come off. It cannot be steralized, since it cannot die, and can be transmitted that way. The question is: if it is just one prion, will it infect you? And that is something we just don't know yet.
All I need out of this day is a chance to kick the Hollywood Video guy, hereafter referred to as 'Tom'...
So, I walk up to the counter and 'Tom' is standing behind it. He takes my card and asks for my phone number, because God forbid anybody carry around a card. So I say my number and he promptly asks me if I am Melissa (my step sister), to which I respond no. Then he tells me I am not on that account... and I tell him which account it is under (too many people here have had account there - lemme just say) and he says I am not on the account so I can't check out the DVD.
I tell him to just call them (my parents), I mean I have the freakin right phone number, but no, they can't do that either. Apparently the phone is too technologically advanced for them to be trained in (oh and I was the only person in line, so that wasn't the problem). Fine, I take my two Hollywood cards out of my wallet and give them to him, telling him they are both my cards. One being my parents, which again he won't accept (comeon - he looked dumb enough to fall for it), and the other being from Minnesota, which he just hands back to me. He tells me my parents need to come in and add me to the account.
So I ask 'can't I open up a new account'... oh, yes I can... smarty-pants me had to suggest it though because that, again, is too far advanced thinking for a video clerk apparently. So as he is processing my account I say 'The Hollywood Video chain should really consolidate all their accounts, because now I have about seven of them.'
To which 'genuis IQ level' Tom replies 'They are consolidated'
'Wait, so you don't accept my card even though they ARE consolidated?' I ask.
'You have a card?'
'Yeah, I handed it to you.' I pull it out and give it to him again.
'Oh well you should've told me that before.'
'I did'
'Well next time just tell me'
('I DID!' I scream in my head, as I calmly insist) 'I did.'
'Oh, ok, well I'll update it then.'
'Thanks' (as I add 'dumbass' in my head)
Sidenote: Advice to anyone who works in customer service - 'the customer is always right'... REMEMBER THAT. I do, and all I want is for someone to say that it is their fault the missed the card. When I am working at Evil Coffee Corp I am definetly the wrong one, not the customer. I've made drinks the way the customer ordered it, and they ordered it incorrectly - and then all I say is 'I'm sorry, I'll remake it'...
Maybe I should add that I want to kick Nadia too, the crying Fred Meyer clerk who checked me out earlier today. Do you really need to cry while ringing me out? I've never cried, with one exception, and that was another customer's fault and all the other customers had just seen it happen. I don't know what do with a crying clerk, please go home if you are having that much of a problem. I can't describe the agony I experienced as I tried to decide if I should meet her eyes or talk to her at all as she checked me out. It's hard to feel sympathy when you don't know the person at all.
I know this may seem insensitive, and it is, but sometimes I just need to vent.
I know we all deal with gossip at work, and that I may be a worse offender than others. But since working at the Evil Coffee Corp I have found that most people will talk to me about people they don't like.... maybe it's because I look nice.... I dunno. Usually it is just about who they don't like, why certain people got hired for a job, why some people are just annoying... and mostly, funny things/mistakes that people do. Now that I am a shift supervisor and I don't know my subordinates and coworkers as well as I did at Bethel or Kohls I'm a little bit nervous about talking about people. I don't want to ruffle feathers or make enemies, though I'm not gossiping as much as I am listening to others gossip.
So I am asking for the help of others: when do you think gossip steps over the line? Do you think any gossip is bad? Is gossip just a natural part of a work environment?
Just so you all know, I am not in any position where I will be judging anyone who I hear gossip about... mainly I think it helps me gain a feeling for the store. And nobody HATES anybody else, just more 'general' work issues and none of it is about the asst. manager or manager.